CONTESTS & PROMOS

2019 Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year Contest!

Thanks to Total Sports for their continued sponsorship of the 2019 Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year Contest!

The 2019 High School Softball Player of the Year contest sponsored by Total Softball and State Champs! is now Live!

The fan voting portion of the Contest is ON! - simply enter your email address and select the candidate YOU think is having the best season in Michigan High School Softball and submit your vote!

Also, please see our "WATCH LIST" of players who may end up breaking into the contest based on their performance, CLICK HERE.

Throughout the season our Media analysts will be monitoring Softball games and player performances from across the state, and updating the top 10 performing Softball players. Contestants will be added or removed from the contest throughout the season based on their individual performance and impact for their team - so please check back and vote regularly to keep Your candidate in the race!.

State Champs! Sports analysts will provide weekly updates on the State Champs! High School Sports Show! (9 AM Sundays on FOX SPORTS DETROIT across the State).

Towards the end of the contest, we will select our Final Four, which will automatically include the highest vote receiver in the online/fan balloting. From there, our team of media analysts will use the following criteria to select our 2019 Softball Champion:

VOTING: simply enter your email address in the field below, then select the candidate you would like to vote for and press "Vote"! By voting and submitting your email address, you agree to allow State Champs! and its affiliates and sponsors to contact you regarding future news updates and promotions.

Good luck to all of the 2019 players in the Michigan High School Softball Player of the Year contest!!

WATCH LIST: To view our "watch list" of players who may end up breaking into the contest based on their performance, CLICK HERE.

Which Player do YOU think is having the best year in Michigan HS Softball?

Email Address:

Lillian Vallimont

Allen Park Cabrini | Freshman - Catcher

The younger of the two Vallimont sisters tearing it up for Cabrini this season, Lillian Vallimont is hitting a team-high .690 with nine home runs through 17 games for the Monarchs so far. Given her hot start, it’s not much of a question why Northwestern would have offered a scholarship to her as a 13-year-old eighth-grader.

Hannah Cady

Clarkston | Junior - Catcher/Shortstop

Named a 2nd Team All-American by Extra Inning Softball and a third-team All-American by the NFCA, Cady has been a mainstay on varsity since her freshman season, when she helped lead the Wolves to the Division 1 semifinals. That year, she hit .488 with 27 runs and 29 RBI through regionals. Last season, she hit .569 with 45 RBI and eight home runs through districts, striking out just twice in her first 120 plate appearances, and posting a .995 fielding percentage. She’s committed to play at Northwestern.

Grace Lehto

Eaton Rapids | Junior - Pitcher

A first-team all-state pitcher, through regionals a year ago, Lehto was 23-4 with a 1.62 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 163 innings pitched. Lehto went toe-to-toe with Escanaba’s Gabi Salo in the D2 semifinals, holding the Eskymos hitless through four innings, and allowing just one earned run in six innings of a 2-0 loss. Through regionals last year, Lehto was hitting .520 with 60 RBI, 18 doubles and 11 home runs.

Lehto threw a no-hitter against DeWitt, a four-inning perfect game against Lansing Sexton, and shut out a potent Hartland lineup this season. Through 25 games for Eaton Rapids, she’s 17-0 with four saves, and with four earned runs allowed in 89 2/3 innings pitched, giving her an ERA of 0.31 and a WHIP of 0.54.

Maggie Murphy

Farmington Hills Mercy | Catcher / Infielder

Just 15 games into her sophomore season, Murphy has nearly matched last year’s total for extra-base hits, posting 13 of them so far, with seven home runs, after hitting no bombs as a freshman. As a result, her slugging percentage has nearly doubled (from .586 to 1.104), and her OPS is 1.686 through the Jack Falvo Memorial Tournament. She’s driven in a third of Mercy’s 104 runs, and is hitting .521.

Gabi Salo

Junior - Pitcher | Escanaba

After the Eskymos fell short in two straight semifinals appearances, Salo got them over the hump as a sophomore, continuing her torrid postseason pace, posting shutouts in the semifinals and finals to give her five in the playoffs (ERA: 0.30) and 83 strikeouts to go with just two walks. After a freshman season in which she went 18-3 with 185 strikeouts in 115.2 innings pitched, Salo went 21-3 as a sophomore with seven no-hitters and two perfect games, allowing just nine earned runs (ERA of 0.40) all season, striking out 287 and walking 13. A first-team all-stater each of her first two seasons, Salo is committed to pitching at Wisconsin.

Brooke Nadolny

L’Anse Creuse | Senior - Infielder/Pitcher

A four-year letter-winner for the Lancers, Nadolny has been a huge part of the power revolution in Michigan softball, hitting .521 and slugging 1.286 with an MHSAA-record 26 home runs last season, after hitting .583 and slugging 1.343 as a sophomore, with a then-record 22 homers. Nadolny entered the season just one homer shy of tying the state record for career home runs (55) set by Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Julia Kennedy last season. Nadolny is also 20-10 with 212 strikeouts in the circle over her career, going 10-3 with 113 strikeouts last season, and has been all-district and all-region each of her first three seasons, earning first-team all-state honors last season. She’s signed to play at Wayne State. (Photo credit: The Macomb Daily)

Tessa Nuss

Outfielder/2B | Lake Orion

A three-time all-stater, Nuss should make that four in a row, if she has a season like she’s had each of her first three in high school. The slap-hitting speedster hit .654 (with a .694 on-base percentage) as a junior, collecting 89 hits and scoring 79 runs. She has the arm to throw out runners from the outfield, but very few have managed to cut her down on the basepaths: She went 41-for-41 in stolen-base attempts last seasons, giving her a streak of 85 consecutive steals. She’s signed with Binghamton (NY) University, but probably would have garnered Power 5 conference offers, if she hadn’t committed so early in her career.

Kaitlyn Brannstrom

Portage Central | 1st base/Catcher

After hitting .426 with four homers, 42 RBI and 20 runs scored as a sophomore, the Purdue commit has been ablaze to start her junior season, hitting .658 with four homers, 17 runs and 33 RBI through Portage Central’s first 12 games. With more extra-base hits (16 — four HRs, four 3Bs, eight 2Bs) than singles (9), Brannstrom is sporting a slugging percentage of 1.395, and an OPS of 2.106.

Lauren Esman

Richland Gull Lake | Senior - Pitcher/1B

After hitting .675 with 91 RBI and a school-record 21 home runs as a sophomore, Esman committed to Michigan, which was recruiting her for her power, with the idea that she might pitch for the Wolverines down the road, too. Last year, her offensive numbers — .587 average, eight home runs, 44 RBI — were more mortal, while her pitching numbers got better, as she went 22-6 with a 1.13 ERA in 149.2 innings pitched, striking out 235 hitters in helping lead Gull Lake back to the regional finals. Esman was first-team all-state as a sophomore (utility) and junior (pitcher), earning third-team All-American honors from NFCA last season. (Photo credit: Bill Broderick/Battle Creek Enquirer)

Kali Heivilin

Three Rivers | Sophomore - Shortstop

A top-five finisher at the Michigan High School Powerlifting Association championships, there’s no question Heivilin’s got power, and plenty of it. Heivilin cracked 18 home runs as a freshman, and has 12 more this season — through last Friday — in the first 17 games for Three Rivers. In a five-game span, she was 11-for-14 with six home runs, three doubles and five walks. Though the first part of last week, the sophomore was hitting .643 with 32 RBI and 41 runs scored. Considering she’s already at 30 career home runs, she’s probably the best bet to catch the current record holder, L’Anse Creuse’s Brooke Nadolny (61 and counting).